The present disclosure generally relates to energy management of household consumer appliances, and more particularly to energy management in hybrid cooking appliances.
Utilities typically charge a flat rate for energy consumption, but with the increasing cost of fuel prices and high energy usage at certain parts of the day, generally referred to herein as “peak demand” or “peak demand periods”, utilities have to buy more energy to supply customers during these peak demand periods. Consequently, utilities tend to charge higher rates during peak demand periods. If demand during peak periods can be lowered, then a potential cost savings can be achieved and the load that the utility has to accommodate during peak demand periods is lessened.
One proposed solution is to provide a system where a controller “switches” the actual energy supply to the appliance or control unit on and off. However, there is no active control beyond the mere on/off switching. Another method involves demand side management (DSM), where a control device in an electromechanical appliance can delay, adjust or disable power consuming features to reduce power consumption. However, such DSM devices simply switch off or reduce loads without any feedback regarding the loads in use.
Electrical utilities moving to an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system will need to communicate to appliances, HVAC, water heaters, ranges, etc. in a home or office building. In these types of advanced systems, the utility can transmit a signal to appliances employing “smart” metering devices or systems to indicate periods of peak demand. These “smart” devices can then employ various load shedding processes to reduce the demand on the utility or grid.
As described above, various factors can influence the relative costs associated with use of different types of heating elements, such as electric or gas. It would be advantageous to be able to switch between different energy sources during peak demand periods or when one energy source is less costly than another. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a cooking appliance that overcomes at least some of the problems identified above.